Patient transport devices are widely used by medical personnel including doctors, nurses, medical technicians and paramedics. Common patient transport devices include gurneys, stretchers and rescue boards. Emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics often use rescue boards at the scene of accidents and other places away from a hospital, such as homes and places of work.
Emergencies can happen at any time and in any place, often requiring the transport of a patient under less than ideal circumstances. For example, patients may need to be transported up or down stairs, through narrow spaces, around tight corners and over rough rural terrain. These circumstances may also include urban structural collapse caused by a natural occurrence or from an attack. In these situations, the patient may need to be carried in a manner that places the board in a more vertical position. For example, a patient that is transported down a steep winding staircase may need the board to be tilted at a great angle to maneuver down the stairs. Without proper patient support, the patient may slip towards the end of the board. Further, patients that are tall may slip so much that their feet and lower legs extend beyond the end of the board compromising patient immobilization.
Proper technique for loading patients depends on the perceived or actual injury involved. For example, under some circumstances a conscious patient may need to be strapped onto a rescue board (back board) while the patient is standing. The patient is then lowered into a horizontal position. Without proper patient support of the feet the patient may slip towards the end of the board as it is lowered into the horizontal position. Movement of the patient in this manner may compromise the health of the patient and may aggravate any existing injury.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,295,672 to Vassallo discloses a removable spine board foot support. However, this board does not allow for standing patient immobilization, requiring that it be used with a specific board due to the method of attachment and reducing the usable length of the board. Further, it is not easily removable to allow for medical testing of the feet as is often required to access the nature of the patient's injuries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,746 to Rogers discloses a stretcher having a foot support. However, once the patient is secured to the stretcher the foot support cannot be removed to examine the feet as may be required due to the injury sustained by the patient. Further, the foot support is an integral part of the stretcher which does not allow for its removal when not in use, thereby unnecessarily adding to the weight that may need to be transported by rescue personnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,089 to Ferreira also discloses a foot support for a stretcher. However, this support requires that the board be modified to enable attachment or requires a specific board. This does not allow for the use of the foot support across multiple types of rescue boards that may be utilized by medical care personnel. Further, this support is not easily attached and removed from the rescue board and blocks access to handles located at the foot end of the board making it harder to carry when a patient is secured.
Other devices that are currently available are bulky and heavy. For many rescue and emergency response teams space availability within the vehicle and the total weight of equipment on the vehicle is an issue. Thus, equipment that is heavy or consumes too much space is undesirable, and a suitable alternative is not presently available.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a patient support apparatus that overcomes these and other disadvantages.